First, find out what the online restaurant shooters (Like Spothopper) are charging restaurants. You can ask restaurant managers for that info. Second, meet up with local food shooters to find out the range or pricing in your area.
Then use online resources like Perplexity.
I asked for the average rates for food photography in Tucson and got this back:
"Some sources indicate hourly rates ranging from $13 to $23 for food photographer jobs in Tucson3. For specific food photography projects, rates can be higher, with an average one-day food shoot costing around $2200. It's worth noting that the general photographer salary in Tucson is lower, averaging $38,480 per year or $18.50 per hour5, which suggests that food photography may be a more specialized and potentially higher-paying niche within the field."
That tells me that food photography in Tucson may not be the niche I want to specialize in.
However, food in advertising is a lot more lucrative.
Another way is to put a package together that seems right to you.
Shop it around and listen to the comments.
Show it to 50 possible clients. You will be able to raise or lower it as you continuosly work the market.
Remember that there is no 'agreed upon rate' in this business. If you can make them see the value, they will pay it.
Great ideas and where to start. "You will have to do a little research to find out where the price point in your area becomes too much, but that is fairly easy to do as well." How do we in practice establish and validate these price points in the real world?—especially when you point out that many of our potential buyers aren't using commercial photographers yet. Are there any known published price points anywhere? Thanks.
First, find out what the online restaurant shooters (Like Spothopper) are charging restaurants. You can ask restaurant managers for that info. Second, meet up with local food shooters to find out the range or pricing in your area.
Then use online resources like Perplexity.
I asked for the average rates for food photography in Tucson and got this back:
"Some sources indicate hourly rates ranging from $13 to $23 for food photographer jobs in Tucson3. For specific food photography projects, rates can be higher, with an average one-day food shoot costing around $2200. It's worth noting that the general photographer salary in Tucson is lower, averaging $38,480 per year or $18.50 per hour5, which suggests that food photography may be a more specialized and potentially higher-paying niche within the field."
That tells me that food photography in Tucson may not be the niche I want to specialize in.
However, food in advertising is a lot more lucrative.
Another way is to put a package together that seems right to you.
Shop it around and listen to the comments.
Show it to 50 possible clients. You will be able to raise or lower it as you continuosly work the market.
Remember that there is no 'agreed upon rate' in this business. If you can make them see the value, they will pay it.
Great ideas and where to start. "You will have to do a little research to find out where the price point in your area becomes too much, but that is fairly easy to do as well." How do we in practice establish and validate these price points in the real world?—especially when you point out that many of our potential buyers aren't using commercial photographers yet. Are there any known published price points anywhere? Thanks.